How To Mend A Broken Heart
by nellabella41
Summary: All this time I was oblivious, ignorant even, to what was happening right under my nose. And now he had to pay. Because of me, he would pay. This was the end. Sequel to Promises You Can't Keep. Fax.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey guys, if your reading this you have obviously found the sequel to 'Promise You Can't Keep'. Congrats. I am very sorry that it took this long to update but seeing as I was in Europe and had no computer, updating was near impossible.**

**I want to thank you all for reading. A big Thank you to my beta **_**amsrule**_** for…well for beta-ing and being wonderful and such.**

**Hope you enjoy this story.**

Prologue: The End

My bloodied feet tore down the ally. The rain, hammering my back, soaked through my lightweight t-shirt and frayed jeans. I was soaked and freezing, but I pumped my legs harder- feeling the strain of my muscles. Suddenly I pitched forward, tripped by a broken bottle. I felt a searing pain in my calf. I looked down to see that a piece of the glass bottle had embedded itself into my skin. Despite the pain, I removed it with a swift tug and continued on my way. The puddle of blood and rainwater rippled each time a raindrop plunged into it.

I kept on running, I had to. _This is It, _I thought. _Now there's no going back. _The time ticked away; each raindrop that fell reminded me of each second being wasted. My lungs pumped faster as I pushed harder- barely keeping up with the load my body was giving it. My pulse was pounding in my ears. _It's too late—_ _No! It can't be! I have to make It! This cannot be the end! _

Streets, lights, buildings, homes- none of them mattered as I raced by. Only one thing, just one thing mattered. _E__verything _else was pointless, meaningless. It meant _nothing_ to me. What a shock it is for me to be thinking this, I mean, I realize the implications of these statements, but it didn't matter anymore. Like I said, nothing mattered, nothing besides this.

_**His smile was breathtaking; I couldn't resist… I returned the grin. Although, in the moment we held eye contact, I thought I saw traces of pain, deception, and lies. He bent his head and when his eyes met mine again, all traces of anything but the utmost contention had disappeared. Was I imagining this or was there something truly wrong?**_

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_**Cracks of light come from inside the bathroom. I hear him speaking quietly inside, judging by the lack of input from the other party, I guess he is speaking on the phone. But whom was he calling in the middle of the night in a hushed voice? I tried to listen to his words but he spoke too softly. Was he trying to keep something from me? Or was he trying not to disturb me? What was he hiding?**_

All this time I was oblivious, ignorant even, to what was happening right under my nose. And now he had to pay. Because of me, he would pay. The tears streaked my face, mixing with the rainwater and the blood.

Suddenly the ally ended, leaving me in the middle of a deserted square. The darkness was reaching for me, engulfing me. I had to keep moving. The rain came in heavy sheets; dark clouds swirled ominously, predicting imminent failure.

_Faster, faster!_ I tried, you know, I really did. I was blinded, I couldn't realize the obvious, that was my first mistake. But now that its come to this, I see what's been happening all along. I doubt I could have fixed this no matter how hard I tried. But I did, I pushed, in the end I guess it wont even matter, but this is the end.

As I approached the next square, I saw him turn. Even from this distance I saw his eyes make contact with mine. All this pain… but for what?

As he turned away, walking into the darkness, I felt a stab at my heart and then iced over, surely I couldn't survive this. After all of this, I still never thought it would end this way, but it is and it did. It's the end.

_Goodbye. _

**A/N: I do apologize for the shortness of this prologue but it was necessary. This is as much as you can know for the moment. The POVs for the story will be a tad bit complicated. It will be in 'one' persons point of view but there will be other things going on that are too confusing to explain at the moment so you'll just have to wait and see and I'm just going to shut up now. Pant pant That was one looooong run on sentence. Well, I certainly do hope you won't be too mad at me for taking this long to update and I hope you like the story.**

**Reviews are welcomed, as are critiques. Thank you.**

**Au Revoir.**

B/N I tried my best to make this chapter sound perfect as I will with the rest of the story but if you do find any mistakes, plz feel free to point them out! Thanks and Review! 


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, ok here's the next chapter. I do hope you enjoy! I just wanted to thank my beta amsrule again. Make sure you guys give her a big hug and thank her! Oh, and for the record, they don't know the voice is Jeb because I started this before I read MR3 and only took certain aspects form the book. I was about halfway done when I started this, so sorry.**

**Disclaimer: It's on my profile. I own nothing. Not even the 'claimer' or the SC/SC/SC things those belong to Myrah.**

**Claimer: I own Luna, the plot, the dialogue and any other future characters that you do not remember from James Patterson's "Maximum Ride' books.**

Chapter 1: Freaks

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We landed quietly in the small clearing. Dark purple flowers lined the edges, wilting and dying. I took out my backpack and got two windbreakers and some food out. We didn't have much food left, but of what we did have I handed to Max to distribute to the flock.

She sat down, and immediately her face fell and her body tensed up. I draped the windbreaker around her and pulled her closer to me. She was arguing with the voice again; it had been happening more frequently for some reason.

It was the Voice that led us here. Personally I didn't trust it. Why was it in Max's head in the first place? Who was it? Why did it hurting Max? And why couldn't it give us a strait answer when we asked a question? It kept telling Max to 'Save the world' but gave her little to no help in doing so. When you think about it, it was most likely a whitecoat. I didn't like the idea of listening to it, but I had no choice, I couldn't very well abandon Max and the Flock, what if something happened to them, what if something happened to _her._ Max.

And then there was Luna, my sister. Ever since we left Canada we took her with us. It was difficult to say in the least. The fastest way for us to get around was flying but that meant carrying her. She was small and fairly light, but she was 100 human and that meant heavier bones and more body weight in general. She's a bit of a burden and she is fully aware of that. But she is my sister; I can't just leave her.

Max's tensed muscles relaxed a bit and her face became serene. I rubbed little circles under her wings and drew her closer. She leaned against me and closed her eyes. The rest of the Flock and Luna were beginning to doze off as well.

"I've got first watch." Max looked up. I could tell she was about to argue but was to tired so she simply nodded and rested her head against me.

Gazzy and Angel already conked out and Nudge was close to sleep as well.

"I've got first watch Ig." I told him.

He nodded and lied down.

I felt Max's breathing slow and I stroked her hair softly. I heard a twig snap behind and looked around quickly to see Luna coming over.

"Hey." She said. I could see a bit of anxiety, apprehension and fear in her eyes and wondered what it was that caused those emotions.

"Hey. Is there something wrong?" I asked.

"No. I'm fine." I pursed my lips, there was obviously something she wasn't telling me but I decided not to push it.

"Can I borrow your-um," she faltered looking nervous, "your laptop?"

I nodded and retrieved it form my bag handing it over to Luna who seemed a bit relieved and yet reluctant.

She muttered a quick 'thanks' before walking off to where she was sitting and turning it on. I watched the light flicker across her face as it slowly whirred to life.

The night was calm and there was hardly any noise coming from the surrounding wood. I could hear cars on a highway faintly in the distance, and the soft cooing of a pigeon. But with those exceptions the nighttime wildlife was unnaturally silent.

Luna's fingers danced across the keyboard and the soft clicking brought me back into focus.

She paused, waiting and then her face fell. The hint of fear from earlier was back tenfold and I became immediately concerned. What was it that was plaguing my sister? What could she have possibly found that caused her so much fear and pain?

She clicked the mouse twice more and closed the laptop. Without the light I couldn't read her expression properly, but when she glanced back at me, I could have sworn her eyes were filled with fear, accusation, and hatred before she turned away and tried to sleep.

I thought about the cause of Luna's strange behavior and accusing looks until it was time to wake Max for her watch.

I gently parted her hair out of her eyes and softly prodded her to wake up.

"Max. Max. Maa-ax." I shook her gently.

"Time to wake up Max."

Her eyes softly fluttered open.

"Your watch."

She nodded. "Thanks.

Sitting up strait against my chest she turned her head and kissed me softly.

"Get some rest Fang."

Nodded but kept my arms around her and let my head rest on her shoulder. She laughed and kissed me once more before I slipped into a light sleep.

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"Fang. Faaa-anng. Faaaa-aang."

I woke up to see Max's face hovering over mine, a smile spread across her face and humor evident in her eyes.

I sat up and realized quickly how light the sky was and how high the sun was already.

"Maaaaaaax!" I growled. She knew better than not waking me up, what if something happened and I was still asleep? What if erasers attacked and Max got hurt because she had to wake me up to help her?

"What?" She said in mock innocence. "Fang, you obviously needed the sleep. You've been getting hardly any sleep and taking my watches too often lately."

"You need your sleep Max."

"As do you Fang. Besides its only 10:30, you can deal." 10:30!

I tackled her to the ground and growled.

"Never. Again."

She nodded and laughed, "Stop being so dramatic." Was I being overdramatic? With my pause, Max pushed me off of her and stood up.

"I'm just teasing you Fang." I was going to reply when I saw Luna, her face, cold as stone as she watched us distugstedly. She must have seen my questioning look because she shook her head and turned away.

Max noticed me staring and turned around to see Luna stalking off fists clenched.

A look of genuine concern crossed Max's face and she ran over to talk to Luna me trailing close behind.

"Luna? Luna what's wrong? What's going on?"

Luna glared at Max, a glare cold enough to burry us under miles of ice. Max flinched back alarmed, she had received and given out glares all of her life, but coming from a friend it hurt a good deal more.

"Luna, what is going on?" I asked pulling Max behind me as she angrily wiped away the tears that were smarting in her eyes.

"Like you care!" Luna spat out. I was completely taken aback. Something had changed last night and whatever it was things had changed dramatically and I needed to find out what was wrong before anyone got really hurt.

"Luna, you know we care. Now, what is going on?" I asked firmly.

"You know, this really isn't working ok." She replied coldly.

"What do you mean?"

"It isn't working ok Fang?!" She yelled alarming the rest of the Flock who were now looking in on us. "It isn't working! OK?! I just I can't do this anymore. I can't stand it. It was nice before, but I'm not like you. So right now, I can't do this."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before clenching her jaw and opening her eyes revealing nothing but hatred.

"Luna? I think we just need to talk it out…" Max ventured from behind me.

"No Max. This is it. I am through with this; **it's not working**."

"Ok, where do want us to go, Luna?" I said giving up.

"**We're **not going anywhere, ok? I already told you: This. Isn't. Working."

"Luna, I am your bro-"

"Yeah I know. You're my brother. That sure worked out well. Point taken, OK? You all helped me out when I was homeless in Toronto and it was really nice of you. But what does that mean? You're okay people; nice yes but- but you know what else you all are?" She took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching her fists. Then she closed her eyes opened them again, determined and spat out, "You're all freaks!"

Max gasped, Angel stifled a sob, Gazzy had a death grip on Iggy's hand whom was looking coldly at the spot he thought Luna was, and Nudge was silent, dumbfounded by the words coming out of Luna's mouth like venom.

"Freaks?" I asked, hatred evident in my voice, hatred to my only sister. A sister who was treating us no better than the whitecoats had. To them we were just experiments, to her we were freaks.

"Freaks. At least I'm-" she paused, fists clenched, "-at least I'm normal."

Luna nodded to herself. She packed up her stuff, took one last look at the Flock. And then she looked at me. I could tell she knew we weren't going to let her just walk away so she looked me in the eyes and said, "You know Fang? I bet you're not even my real brother!" And then she just walked away.

She walked strait out of our camp and out of our lives. She had hurt my family and because of that, she was no longer any sister of mine.

_Freaks. Was that all we were? Freaks?_

_Freaks…_

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**A/N: Right sorry about that. But don't worry; you haven't seen the last of Luna.**

**Sorry about how long this took to update, but I was really sick and things were kind of hectic in my life. But I gave you a dramatic chapter to make up for it. Also, during this story I am going to be testing out a different way of writing POVs. It's all going to be in one POV but I am going to find a way of…well, you'll see. **

**Once again thank my beta amsrule and check out XII Dragon's 'End of the World' its awesome!**

**Thanks again guys! Oh, and updates may not be as regular as they were in 'PYCK' because I am back in school and I have swim team, so I will try to update as much as possible.**


	3. AN

A/N: I know you guys hate author's notes but this one can't be helped. Um, where to start…basically my computer crashed and I hadn't backed any of it up. So far, we cannot salvage anything. There are other things I have been dealing with lately including a death and its all adding to the humongous pile of stress. I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I had already written it and I was about to send it to my beta when it crashed…so sucks for me huh? This update should have been Ch. 2 (which was awesome by the way) but unfortunately, someone thought my life wasn't hard enough as is so…I am really sorry. It should be too long before I update but I wanted you all to know why I wont be able to update for a while. Again, I'm sorry, but it can't be helped.

**Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. I owe you one.**

**Sorry.**


	4. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys. Here's something…kind of…well…kind of new. I hope you like it. Oh and the last chapter was August 24, 2007, that's when it took place. **

**To Will: You may recognize the dream sequence…**

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Chapter 2: Bloody Mess 

_London, England: December 23, 2009_

_There is still snow on the ground. Here, the sky is an ominous grey and charcoal color mixed with snow white. I see children play in the snow with rosy cheeks and poofy jackets. The toy stores are crowded to the point of unbearable stuffiness. The little ones press their faces to the windows of the candy stores. The mothers give them money to buy a treat or two and I see their little faces light up._

_My apartment is cold now and Ellie is worried about the rain. Our blankets are filled with holes but we know we won't be able to replace them for a while. My brown coat and scarf are my refuge now. Sometimes, when the cold becomes too much, I wear my coat and scarf to bed as well, anything to keep warm. _

_Ellie took my shift this morning because I was running late and she has things to do tonight as well. Sometimes I don't understand how someone could have done something so horrible and yet someone would be so good to him or her. I don't understand why people are kind to me, especially Ellie._

_The slush under my boots crunches as I walk down Wellington to Parson's Coffee. The cold air nips at my ears and nose and I shove my hands into the pockets of my coat to keep warm. The cars honk at one another as the light turns green and one man begins to yell at a woman who is too busy talking on her cell-phone. By the time she finally notices him, he's practically pounding his dashboard in rage, she shoots him the bird and executes a sharp left turn leaving him to whack his head on his steering wheel in frustration. I smile inwardly at the chaos-taking place around me._

_A man and women with their baby walking down the street smile at me and I grin at the baby who is all bundled up with only his two little eyes, his nose, and small black curls peeking out of the warm blue blanket. He has his mother's pretty blue eyes and his father's curly black hair. His eyes scrunch up and, even though I can't see his mouth, I can tell he's smiling. _

_I walk passed the tailors, the supermarket, the paper store, and finally I arrive at Parson's._

_The warm air engulfs me as I open the door and walk in. Ellie rushes up from behind the counter and almost trips over someone in her haste._

"Thank god you're here." She pants. "I have to go pick up Skyler and I still haven't gotten a new pillow. Here." She takes off her apron and hands it to me. "I'll be at the apartment all day, but I'm taking Skyler to his Uncle's at 6:00pm. I have a date with Sam at 7:00pm but I should be home by 11:00pm." I nodded.

"_Ok, Ellie." I took the apron from her hands and gave her a quick hug before she ran out the door. I walked behind the counter slipping my apron on._

"_Hey." Alex said. His eyes half closed as he clung desperately to his coffee. _

"_Hey."_

_He yawned and took another sip of coffee before heading off to the back, presumably to take a nap. Well, this is wonderful. _

"_Oi, heads up!" Taylor tossed a rag at me. I caught it absentmindedly. "Wash the counter down for me, would ya?" She asked. Clearly I wasn't the only one who noticed we were short-staffed._

_I wiped down the counter with the rag and then started on the tables. Parson's Coffee was a small Café. It was owned my Mr. Parson, a small man with a potbelly, bald spot, gaunt cheeks, but an overall cheery face; and had been in his family for 53 years. The walls were a warm orangey-yellow color and even from the outside it looked warm and inviting. It had old wooden tables and a long counter that ran almost the entire length of the wall. Mr. Parson made sure that it was always warm, especially during the winter. He was a very kind man who gave the little children chocolate and cocoa on Christmas or when it was especially cold outside. Some of them pressed their faces against the glass to say 'hi' everyday when walking home from school. All the children and their parents loved him and all of the customers ended up in a good mood because of the general atmosphere of the place._

_However, even a man like Mr. Parson has his faults. Mrs. Parson had died no more than a year ago and Mr. Parson was still in shock. Every so often he would slip a tad too much brandy into his coffee or stay out late at the pub down the street. He was like a father to us, so naturally when we found him passed out on the cot in the back; we would bring him warm coffee and aspirin. Even in his times of great despair, he was always a gentle caring man… just a bit more drunk. _

_When I finished with the tables, I grabbed a mop and quickly wiped down the floor. I heard the light ding of the bell as someone walked through the door. Putting down the mop, I walked behind the counter to help Taylor. _

Taylor, second oldest of us, the employees, (next to Ellie) was nice, if just a bit too serious. She obviously wanted to get the work done and get out of here and didn't take to Mr. Parson as much as the rest of us did. She was clearly disapproving of his drinking habits, and although he couldn't blame her, Mr. Parson was hurt by her negative attitude towards him. Taylor was the bossiest of the 6 of us. Besides Ellie and Taylor, there was Alex, Skyler, Cora, and Adam. Alex, a bit of a 'slacker', as Taylor referred to him, was 17 and a partier. He would stay up all night, every night, doing who knows what and walk in like the living dead the next day. Then Erin, his girlfriend, would hand him his morning coffee and criticize his habits, he would nod accordingly and she would leave. Everything livened up a bit after she left because no one was particularly fond of her; especially Cora, who was obviously into Alex, who was as clueless as he was tired.

_Then there was Skyler. Ellie and Skyler were extremely close. Skyler's mom, who was a crack addict, basically dumped Skyler into Ellie's family when he was seven. Ellie, who was twelve at the time, took a liking to Skyler and they were practically siblings ever since. He considers her like a mother/sister figure while she thinks of him more as a little brother. Even though his life was completely screwed up, he had pretty much moved on about the rejection he received from his mother, and loved her far more than he had ever loved his mum. _

_Adam was an insane. Basically he was an intense skater with the mental capacity of a peanut, but we put up with him anyway. He told us he was an undiscovered genius, and, he said he was, and I quote: 'a flower waiting to bloom', end quote. Poetic. We were almost positive that Adam was dropped on his head repeatedly as a child, judging by the fact that Elena, his sister, was getting an award in her progress in the areas of physics and chemistry and his father and mother were both software designers for Microsoft. While Adam was positive there was a developing genius inside of him, the rest of us considered our selves lucky that he at least had a good sense of humor and had 'wicked skizills' or so Alex called them, on a skateboard. That was sure to get him very far in life. _

_Essentially we all were fairly close and got along pretty well. They accepted me for the most part, but most importantly, they didn't badger me about my past, that was the only reason this arrangement had worked out thus far. _

_As soon as I was behind the counter, Taylor put me to work. Our regular morning coffee goers were flocking in and, seeing as we were short staffed, I was extra busy. A bit of the coffee I was pouring got on my exposed arm and burned the skin. I cringed and put the coffee pot down. Rinsing it lightly with cool water, I got back to work. There were tables to be waited on, orders to take, and drinks to make, and people to please. Thankfully, Adam and Alex decided now was the time to pitch in. I tossed aprons at the both of them and they slipped them on and started off towards the tables. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I walked into the back room and sat down on the old sofa._

_We usually came here when work was slow or if we were extra tired. Yawning, I laid my head against a moth eaten pillow. Sitting quickly upright, I avoided falling asleep. Even though the fatigue was almost unbearable, I was afraid to close my eyes for fear of what I would see. I had been having a recurring dream that sometimes kept me up for days until, once again; the need to sleep was overwhelming. I had been avoiding closing my eyes at all costs but I knew it wouldn't last. _

_I felt myself drifting lazily into a light sleep and had a slight jolt of fear before I was pulled under…_

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_I was at the top level of a deserted parking complex, the air was chilly and my hair whipped at my face with the wind that sent shivers down my spine. I had a view of the city from where I was standing, but had no idea which city it was. The sky was grey and bleak but had an undercurrent of violence to it._

_Heavy footsteps sounded from my right as I turned slowly to face him. He came toward me with a dusty brown suit and a hat that had a hole in it's left side. He walked at a casual pace but each step was one with utmost importance. With one hand behind his back, he approached me. His face bore an unfriendly smile showing his missing teeth. I wanted so badly to smack that sneer of malicious amusement off of his cruel face. _

_I saw silver as he brought his hand around, almost as if he was to shake my hand. I looked at his hand and saw that he gripped a long, 8 inch, silver knife. A shiver of fear racked my body as I thought differently of his intentions, but he made no move to attack. Instead he offered the knife and I took it from him. I had to. He motioned for me to leave._

_I sprinted from the building, but heard the sound of quickly approaching wings behind me._

_I pushed myself harder and began to feel the strain in my calves and thighs. The rain began falling from the sky in heavy sheets, pounding on me. I pushed my short hair out of my eyes and continued running. _

_Tripping, I felt a searing pain in my left calf where a shard of glass from a broken bottle had wedged its way in. Ripping it out, I quickly picked up the knife that had skidded away from me in my trip._

_I picked myself up and continued running. The cut in my calf burned with each step but I pushed harder. _

_The flapping of wings behind me was getting louder so I picked up the pace until my breath came in small gasps and my legs burned with a thousand suns. I saw a dark figure ahead of me and ran faster. A barbed wire fence blocked my way and I quickly scrambled over managing to acquire several cuts. I turned a corner and stopped to catch my breath._

_A glint of silver caught my eye and I looked down at the knife. It was stained with dark crimson blood. Looking down at my body, I saw a bloody mess. My entire torso was covered in scars, cuts and gashes that were oozing blood. It seeped through my pant legs as well and I quickly noticed the scars and cuts on my arms and wrists as well. Letting out a small scream, I turned and became face to face with_him

_I could see the anger, revulsion, worry and remorse in his eyes, but before he could open his mouth to say anything, I plunged the silver butcher's knife into my heart. I could faintly hear the screaming._

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**A/N: Hey guys. This chapter is quite important and is giving you an insight on the rest of the story and how some of the chapters will be written. Three things:**

**One: Remember to check the DATE of the entry (for example this chapter takes place in London, England on December 23, 2009.). **

**Two: Sorry about the wait, it won't be that long again. I will delete the Authors Note soon as well. **

**Three: The dream sequence is VERY important and there is a ton of foreshadowing in it. You may want to read it and the prologue over again.**

**Thank you everyone!**

**Reviews would be nice.**


	5. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. I have nothing left to say. On with the story. A big thank you to my part-time beta XIII Dragon for editing this story while amsrule was away.**

Chapter 3:

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October 31, 2007

It seems like this sort of thing always happened to us. One minute we were flying over Kentucky the next we were trying to explain to a bride, groom and participators of a wedding why there was a dog in the wedding cake. Jolly good fun wouldn't you say?

"Look I am so sorry sir, we were, um, climbing that tree there," Max pointed wildly around trying to find a suitable tree, "and, uh, our dog, Mr., um, Mr. Whiskerkins, uh, fell out of the, um, tree. You see-" Iggy cut Max off there. Leave it to Max to choose the perfect moment to get nervous lying.

"Basically, we were climbing a tree watching your wedding because it looked great, really." He 'looked' at the bride, "That dress looks incredible on you!" Angel giggled and Nudge elbowed her. "Any way, as I was saying, we were watching your wedding when our dog, _Mr. Whiskerkins_," Iggy shot Max a look, "got excited about the cake, and jumped for it, and here we are."

The bride, who was still pink from Iggy's compliment, swallowed the lie like a big bite of her pink and white wedding cake. Meanwhile, the guests were muttering to themselves while the groom pursed his lips and nodded curtly.

"Very well, but don't let it happen again, you hear?" We nodded. Total, who was still covered in frosting from the cake, jumped from his delicious 'throne' and into Angel's arms. Max, who had decided it was time to ditch this joint, apologized to the bride, groom and wedding goers once more and we were off.

Once we were about half a mile away, Max gave us the OK. That was all it took for Angel and Nudge to burst into a giggle fit. Total, who obviously wasn't as pleased with the whole situation as the girls were, was at least content to lick the thick frosting off of his fur.

Eventually, the girls' giggles died down and Iggy's ego shrunk back to its normal size after receiving many a compliment from Gazzy on his 'superb lying skills'. I grinned at Max, mouthing '_Mr. Whiskerkins?_' She just rolled her eyes at me.

Soon enough, we were up in the air again and I saw the tension in Max's face disappear gradually.

"Hey, you OK?" I questioned.

"I'm fine, just a bit…embarrassed, I could have really gotten us in trouble if Iggy hadn't stepped in."

I raised an eyebrow. In trouble? Seriously, what were they going to do, set the cushion bearer on us? Fling cake? Call the police? Oh yeah, that would go over well: _'Well sir, I was just about to recite my vows when out of nowhere BAM! A dog falls strait into our cake! It did, I swear. Then a bunch 'a kids showed up an told me that they had been a spyin' on my wedding! Ain't that a felony?'_

Oh yeah, that would go over _real_ well.

I did realize what had shaken her up so much, though. Imagine what could have happened if Iggy didn't save us with his 'artful' lying. It would've been challenging in the least to explain our wings to those wedding goers. But on the bright side, it would be a wedding nobody would ever forget. I mean really, who forgets a wedding when a dog 'falls from a tree' into the wedding cake.

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We flew for hours; Nudge gracing us with her never-ending flow of commentary, Gazzy, giving our sense of smell a run for its money while dishing out one or two, and Iggy, making sure no one fell asleep by blowing something up once and a while.

Oh, it was a _lovely_ flight. I couldn't tell what was damaged more, my sense of smell, or my ears. Finally, at around 7:00pm, Max decided that we had covered enough mileage in one day and we started searching for a place to make camp.

We ended up in a 'green' space on the outskirts of a forest; you couldn't really call it a green space though because, due to a drought this area was suffering from, the grass had gone all brown and brittle. _Sleeping is going to be a ball. I can't wait._

However, it was probably in our best interest to cross our bridges when we came to them, so I began my hunt for food. Opening my backpack, I pulled out one windbreaker, a sweater, a flashlight, a first aid kit and the laptop. With all of those laid out before me, there was more room to scavenge for food in the sack.

Ok, two semi-rotten apples, six granola bars, a package of airplane peanuts, some chips, and a half-eaten ham sandwich.

Oh, shit.

I looked around and saw Max pulling out a couple more granola bars and three more sandwiches out of her backpack but it looked like that was all that was left. My stomach growled but I clenched my fists and ignored it.

Exchanging a look with Max, I gathered all of the food and began distributing it among the kids. With about twelve granola bars, two apples and six sandwiches, everyone was going to be hungry tonight.

When the kids had each gotten their share, I turned to Max with the remaining sandwich, apple and granola bars. She looked at me questioningly.

"I'm not that hungry. I had something to eat earlier." I said, she raised an eyebrow but didn't question me anymore.

A breeze rustled the leaves and raised Goosebumps on my bare arms. Shrugging on my thin sweater, I handed my windbreaker to Angel whose teeth had begun to chatter.

Now that we had all eaten, it was time to make camp. Max helped Angel, Nudge and Gazzy get ready for bed by making sure they each had a windbreaker or something to sleep on and keep warm.

Iggy and I got together some dry wood and grass to make a small fire at camp. Iggy worked his magic and soon we had it going in the middle of the clearing.

Max called first watch and settled against a tree. I was still too awake to fall asleep, so I decided to check out the blog and whatnot on the computer.

I pressed down on the power button and watched as the screen turned black, grey, blue, finally settled on my desktop. I opened to a web page and a window popped up asking me if I wanted to review a saved message sent 12 days ago under the username eternal moonlight . I opened the file and an e-mail popped up:

_**To: **__eternalmoonilight yahoo .com_

_**From: **__disturbedandmalfuntioning yahoo .com_

_**Subject: **__He's Here_

_**Message:**_

_He came today and asked me if the deal was complete. I answered him this time, and my answer was yes. I told him that I would help him in return form what I wanted. He said he would give it to me; he said he would help me. _

_I told him I would do almost anything, he told me almost wasn't good enough. I told him 'anything'. He smiled at my, that horrible smile. He said he would give me some time though. I think he is going to give me two months, and then he will come back for me. When he comes back, I'm leaving with him. I don't know what he'll ask of me next, but he said I would be back in about two years or so, and then I will have to make the real decision. He wouldn't tell me about what I had to decide though. _

_Maybe it won't be so bad; you have never heard stories of this sort of deal. I know you think it isn't worth it, but you don't understand sometimes. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's worth it; anything is worth it in the end. I don't know how long I have left here. I don't know how long I have left. _

_Come back, I want to see you before I leave, don't think you can talk me out of it though, I will go. Meet me then, but tickets are 'Admit One Only', ok? No guests, reservations only. _

_I hope I'll see you. Do what ever you can to make this work; you may not see me for two years. I risked everything for this and I'll find out if it's worth it soon I guess. Even if it isn't, I have a lot to waste and not much to lose._

_Be safe, but don't worry about me._

_Disturbingly Malfunctioning._

Confused be the message, I clicked on the next window and opened the file. My eyes began to scan over the reply message of the previous e-mail.

_**To: **__disturbedandmalfunctioning yahoo .com_

_**From: **__eternalmoonlight yahoo .com_

_**Subject:**__ Re: He's Here_

_**Message:**_

_I know I can't convince you out of doing this, and, as much as I wish you wouldn't do this, I want you to be safe and to be…happy…_

_If this will help everything, then follow through with it, but if it doesn't help, end this and come home. Seriously, you have to promise me: don't do this unless you're sure this will help._

_I won't try to change your mind anymore; it never worked anyway, did it? I thought not. My dreams are getting worse now. I am afraid to close my eyes anymore. I wish I was with you but that's not possible right now. Soon though, very soon. I know you are risking everything for this, so I will do whatever it takes to see you off. No matter how much or how many it hurts. _

_Things are pretty good here though; I wish you knew. I wish you could be here sometimes. I miss you._

_I can guarantee my being there though, and I will stay until he comes to get you and I will wait for you. I remembered the ticket, its Admit One Only, I know. _

_I will be there soon. I'll be safe, but you know I will worry,_

_Eternally_

I couldn't understand all of the references in these messages. Who was this person that had come? Who had he come to? What was this project that the first e-mail was referring to? What did all of this mean?

I couldn't stop the flow of questions that were racing around in my mind. A memory that had been stored in the vault of my mind surfaced again, painfully I recalled that night two months ago.

She asked for my computer, and even at the time I could tell there had been something wrong. An image of her face as the computer light played across her features which were contorted into a look of accusation and hatred, haunted me and I knew that I should have realized that something was wrong the second I saw her face, not the morning after the fact. Before I realized something was up, it was all ready to late and the damage had been done.

These messages must have played a role in this but I couldn't understand what they were supposed to mean.

Max needed to know about these and quick.

I glanced over to the place she where she was leaning against a tree, but a small ping brought my attention back to my computer. Glancing down at the screen I read the message in the window that had popped up.

_New message sent from user: _

APB252-0601 

_Receive now?_

I clicked the OK button and a message window appeared on the screen:

'All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.'

Still as confused as ever I saved the message and shut the computer off. I figured I could tell Max about all these confusing messages in the morning so I put the laptop into my backpack and lay on the scraggly ground.

For a while, I lay pondering the meanings of the messages but nothing came to me. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I recall on last thought as it drifted into my head:

'All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream…' SC 

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**A/N: Reviews would be nice. Unfortunately, updates will be less frequent now a days but the wait will most definitely not be this long again. Everything has been piling up, but I feel like I have just gotten everything (i.e. school work, beta-ing, swimming, fun) under control again. Thanks for reading. Also, I just figured out the answer to one of the most meaningful questions in life. If you want to know what it is, tell me in your review or message me and I will share with you this wondrous discovery. **

Remember to thank XIII Dragon for beta-ing this chapter! 


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